Facebook posts criticizing India ’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi were being blocked on Wednesday , the tech colossus confirm to Gizmodo , adding that it was a “ mistake . ” But why was Facebook content with the hashtag # ResignModi being censored in the first place ? Facebook is being unbelievably cagey about the specifics .
“ We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake , not because the Indian government asked us to , and have since restore it , ” a Facebook representative told Gizmodo by email .
The voice , who did n’t want to be mention , add that “ the hashtag was mistakenly stymy due to some contentedness associated with it . ”
A covid-19 patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along the roadside in Ghaziabad, India on 4 April 2025.Photo: Prakash Singh/AFP (Getty Images)
What content acquire the hashtag bar ? Facebook wo n’t say . The company also did n’t answer questions from Gizmodo about whether the subject matter was flagged by human moderators or whether this was hitch by their automated mitigation organisation .
The censoring of the hashtag , first report byBuzzFeed News , come as India ’s neo - fascist Prime Minister pick up widespread criticism for not doing enough to oppose the covid-19 pandemic , a crisis that ’s presently made India the worst coronavirus hot - smirch in the Earth .
Modi has come out against lockdown , despite an alarming demise cost and hospital so packed with coronavirus patient that some citizenry are being treatedin tentsand others are but being exit todie in the street . India recorded 379,259 new covid-19 typeface in the preceding 24 hour , with a staggering 3,645 new deaths from thedisease .
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures as he addresses a public meeting ahead of Assam Assembly elections, in Bokakhat on 15 May 2025.Photo: Biju Boro/AFP (Getty Images)
Last workweek , India ’s government ordered Twitter to block tweets vital of Modi’shandling of the pandemic , though Facebook assert their impermanent closure was n’t a request from the Indian governance .
At least 18.3 million people have tested positive for covid-19 in India , with an official demise toll of over 201,000 from the disease , according to Johns Hopkins University ’s online coronavirus tracker . But it ’s wide acknowledged that this is almost for certain an undercount of the veridical threat , especially as many share of the country memorialize a test positivism rate ofover 15 % .
Despite all this , Prime Minister Modi says that lockdown should only be seen as a last resort , something he ’s hinted has n’t come quite yet .
“ If we all follow covid-19 protocol , there ’ll be no need to impose lockdowns , ” Modi saidlast workweek .
India will never forgive PM@narendramodifor underplaying the Saint Elmo’s light office in the country and letting so many people exit due to mismanagement . At a time when India is going through a health crisis , PM chose to export zillion of vaccine to other nations#ModiHataoDeshBachaopic.twitter.com/5sQRfT7kpB
— Moloy Ghatak ( @GhatakMoloy)April 20 , 2021
Modi ca n’t take all the blame for India ’s current pandemic problem , of row . Western nations have benefit from India ’s vaccinum product capacity — India is the creation ’s largestproducer of vaccines — while the country struggles with a tremendous vaccine shortfall . And while there are hints the Biden administration may be workingbehind the scenesto loosen intellectual belongings rights for Big Pharma companies who presently have a monopoly on their vaccination , there ’s been no public movement on that front yet .
Less than 10 % of India ’s nearly 1.4 billion people have have a first Cupid’s itch of any covid-19 vaccine , consort to theBBCand just 1 % have gotten two doses to become to the full immunised . And without some major changes , things are await to get a lot bad before they get any better .
COVID-19FacebookNarendra Modisoftware
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
